and last but not least, tweets, is an intra-species
love story to warm your hearts (the link includes a
picture) ...

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http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_1619328,00.html

Pigeon adopts baby rabbits

A pigeon takes care of her "babies", seven baby
rabbits. (Rusana Philander, Die Burger)

Rusana Philander

Cape Town - A pigeon at the Karmanel party farm at
Joostenberg Vlakte near Kraaifontein is the proud
"mother" of seven rabbits.

The pigeon recently took the rabbits under her wing
when the two rabbit mothers neglected their babies.

Amanda Nel, owner of Karmanel, said the pigeon has
been keeping the rabbits warm for the past three
weeks.

"The pigeon 'moved in' with them after the rabbits
were born. The rabbits and pigeon live in the same
cage.

"Rabbits do not make good mothers and the pigeon took
over this task from the rabbits. I think she believes
the baby rabbits are her own."

Nel said it was quite possible because the rabbits and
pigeon have been living together "in harmony" for the
past few years.

"It is incredible to see how these two species have
formed a tight family unit. Because of the pigeon
mother, the rabbits will grow up because she looks
after them all the time. The strong bond between the
rabbits and pigeon cannot be broken.

"The pigeon has become a mother to the seven rabbits
and protects them as if they are her own. She never
lets them out of her sight."

Two bird experts said it was the first time they heard
of a bird adopting rabbits.

Hilton Pillay, a bird expert of Strandfontein,
attributed this behaviour to the mothering instinct of
the pigeon.

"Because it is breeding season for birds, they are
reacting to this instinct."

Doug Harebottle of the unit for bird demographics at
the University of Cape Town said some rabbits
neglected their young, but this particular situation
was exceptional particularly because rabbits are
mammals.


=====
Devorah A. N. Bennu, PhD
Independent Scholar and
Research Associate,
American Museum of Natural History
birdologist [at] yahoo [dot] com
public blog: http://girlscientist.blogspot.com

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